Resveratrol, Wine, & Aging

I wanted to follow up on the Mondavi case, which referenced a 60 Minutes special that extolled some of the health benefits of wine.

Researchers such as David Sinclair of Harvard Medical School eventually isolated the red wine compound resveratrol, which they believed was responsible for wine's health benefits. Resveratrol appeared to work on sirtuin genes,  and mimicked the effects of caloric restriction in some non-human animals such as mice. When on low-calories diets (60% of ad libitum diet), mice life spans expanded meaningfully -- sometimes by 30% or more.

Unfortunately, studies of caloric restriction and resveratrol use on humans have thus far not produced the same concrete effects of lifespan extension. Even though GlaxoSmithKline bought Dr. Sinclair's firm, Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, for $720mm in 2008, resveratrol research has tailed off significantly since then. GSK opted to shut down Sirtris in 2013, relocating some of its employees elsewhere within the firm.

Wine hasn't so far yielded the fountain of youth. But there's still solid evidence that moderate alcohol use lowers mortality versus both non-drinkers and heavy drinkers. The full study showing the so-called "U-Shaped Curve" is available here, as is an updated version here. Drinking ~7 standard drinks/week minimizes mortality, while drinking ~14 standard drinks/week results in mortality risk comparable to non-drinkers.